Conquered (by) the Rock!

Woke today to a strong wind blowing from the East and the gusts were cold! We have been so acclimatised to the warm weather that we couldn’t cope with the 17 degrees outside this morning…strange when we started this trip, 17 degrees would have meant shorts and tee shirts!! Today, instead of doing the morning blog outside, I made a cuppa and sat at the caravan table inside the van. Jess woke next, opened the door, stuck her head out, closed the door and said “I’m going back to bed!!”

Cold and windy.

Now the issue was that with a strong wind blowing, we knew there was no way the rock would be open for climbing. Instead, most everyone (else) slept in and we had a very slow start. Just after midday, Fi and I walked over to the park reception where our thoughts were confirmed by the sign that stated Ayers Rock is closed for climbing 🙁

We asked the receptionist if it was likely to be opened again today, so she looked it up on her PC reach around and flipped the sign saying “Oh, it just opened” What great timing 🙂

So, it was back to the van for the kids and for the first time in weeks Mark, Mattie, Zac and myself donned shoes and socks! What a strange feeling!! We then loaded everyone into the can and headed to the resort “town” for a hearty rock climbing lunch. We had sandwiches at the cafe, then drove into the park to get up close and personal with Ayers Rock.

Oh almost forgot, as we were leaving the caravan park, would you believe that Mark had a flat tyre on his car!! Seriously he is not having a lot of luck on this trip. We drove to the servo to pump it up, so while there I thought I might top up the tank. Wasn’t until we were leaving that Mark said “Did you see the criminally high price of fuel?” I grabbed my receipt and looked… $2.22 per litre!!!! OMG!!! At least they took Fleet card!

Kate and Fiona had already decided they would not be attempting the climb, and much to the girls disappointment we decided the girls wouldn’t be climbing either, so it was at the base of the rock that Mark, Mattie, Zac and I looked up and realised what we had got ourselves in for… A long steep climb.

Anyway, we started full of gusto, climbing strongly to the top of the loose rocks before pausing for a drink and a rest…damn… Mark and I were already puffing!! This was going to be hard going. The next section to the start of the chain was steep and slippery, but we conquered that fairly easily and moved onto the steeper parts by the chain.

Wasn’t long before we again collapsed onto the rock for a rest, already exhausted but with a lot of climbing above us. Man we are unfit and we almost turned back here. I was certainly puffing and panting, and Mark informed me he wasn’t a great fan of heights. Mark rang Kate and informed her we might be soon making our way back down.

Not one to quit so easily, I forced myself to my feet and said “A little higher…”, surprisingly the rest had restored my step and given me a chance to catch my breath. We sprang away again aiming for a little bit at a time before collapsing for another rest. So this is how we climbed, and we were not alone. Many people were pausing with us because this is one steep climb! The wind started to howl through, adding to the dehydration by sucking the moisture from your lips. Lucky we had lots of water with us.

Against the odds, we pushed on and on, but it was about 50m from the top that I said to Mark “I am not going to make it!”

I simply had nothing left 🙁 my legs felt like jelly, my stomach was empty and I was huffing and puffing like you wouldn’t believe. Turns out I am not as young (or fit) as I used to be, and I was simply out of fuel 🙁

Mark, not overly fond of the height agreed, and much to the boys disappointment, we turned around and began our descent. Mark and Matthew led the way, but Zac wasn’t so easily turned around. “Please Dad, Please Dad” he pleaded “We are so close”.

It wasn’t until I looked him and in the eye and said “sorry mate, I would love to, but I just don’t have it in me”. By this stage he was throwing any competitive insult at me to try to goad me to the top. Almost worked too but it would have been a bad decision. I said “Zac, we can push on to the top, but there is a good chance you will be coming down alone…”

Zac looked longingly at the top of the chain, nodded and said “I understand Dad”. I could see he was shattered that we didn’t make it, and reluctantly we both began our descent.

Now you would think this would be the easy part, but with legs like jelly and the rock face so steep, it was no easy feat! We slowly made our way down, using the chain on the steeper bits, walking backwards down the rock.

At one stage as we rested and waited for others to pass, I slapped the rock and it made a hollow sound?? “It’s hollow” I exclaimed as both Zac and Matthew paled. After that I didn’t slap the rock again, although there are definitely places where the rock is hollow!

Below are some photos I took on the rock (forgot to take some from up high because I was trying to stay alive!!). You can see from the selfie of Zac and I that I was not having a good time at this stage! There is also a short video that Mark took from up high and probably best shows the views which I can only describe as magnificent.

So, we didn’t mange to conquer the rock 🙁 In fact we stopped about 50M from the top which is so close, but in reality the end of the chain is not the summit. If you are going to the summit, you would only be half way! Back on the ground again, we met many people who had turned about the same spot, of before we did. Seems we are not the only ones that were struggling.

I said to Zac “you will have to come back here one day and do it again…” “…with you Dad?” he asked… hmm, not sure I will get another chance in my lifetime!

Anyway, we met back up with the girls who had been walking around the base. Hopefully we can coax Fiona into blogging about their time, and explaining some the great photos they took. For us, it was back to town for a much needed ice-cream. I was exhausted, and I think my legs may be a little sore tomorrow!

Dinner was at a BBQ restaurant where you buy your meat and cook it yourself on the BBQ. A novelty really, although Mark and I went with the combo, eating Emu, Crocodile, Kangaroo, Beef and Buffalo. Now at least I can say I’ve tried them all!!

I liked it, but wasn’t a lot of options for the kids who are not big BBQ’ers anyway, and my wife who pointed out we would have been better off with an Al-la-carte menu. Oh well it was an experience.

So tomorrow we leave Uluru and head south once more, this time pointing towards Coober Pedy. Tomorrow we will also pass into the 5th Australian state we have visited in the last 5 weeks, South Australia. In Coober I think Kate will finally be eyeing off those Opals she was promised back on her Birthday!